Last Summer with You
by ProDG
Summary: Lilo is off to college at a California school, but when her plane is mysteriously destroyed Stitch attempts to bring her back. Will he succeed, or will he risk losing her again? Please read and review
1. Chapter 1

**Last Summer with You**

"Why has Stitch disappeared?"

"She was my world"

"…Yes, I was in love with her."

"…I was wrong."

"How can I protect my Ohana?"

"I'm numb now."

"I'll miss all of you."

"**I'm Sorry"**

**Chapter 1**

The sunrise broke over the mountains at 5:45 that morning, making its way into Kokaua Town who's residents were all still nestled in their beds sound asleep. Birds were busying themselves gathering food to feed their young while other animals went about scampering across the damp ground and absorbing the warmth of the sun's rays.

At the edge of town where a small green house with a tower built onto it sat and where a large red spacecraft was parked in the backyard, one human was already up and starting her day. This human, Lilo Pelekai, lived there with her sister Nani, two aliens Jumba Jookiba and Pleakley and her genetically enhanced mutant alien "dog," Stitch.

As the rest of her Ohana slept peacefully Lilo was in the small bathroom downstairs taking a shower and going over the day's agenda. This would be the last full day she would spend in Hawaii, and it was Stitch's turn to have her all to himself. The big question now was is he finally up? Stitch always was a heavy sleeper, and hard to wake up in the mornings. Lilo turned the water to her shower off and wrapped a towel around her body and hair, then opened the door a little to let some of the steam out. She then exited the room and stepped onto the elevator that would take her up to the dome bedroom that she shared with Stitch.

The hatch in the middle of the room opened as Lilo finished her ascent and stepped onto the cold metal floor, her bare feet making soft padding sounds. She made her way over to the closet to get dressed and looked to the other side of the room at her companion who still lay in his bed sleeping soundly with one leg hanging over the side of the bunk. She sighed with slight annoyance.

"Come on, Stitch. I told you that I wanted you up by the time I finished showering. You DO still want to spend the day together don't you?" She asked him.

Stitch just mumbled something incoherent and snorted in response. He was too cozy wrapped up in the cocoon of his and dreaming about chasing tasty food across the beach. Lilo shook her head as she stepped inside the closet.

"I'm going back downstairs to finish getting ready and when I come back I want you out of bed and ready to go, got it?" She announced after she finished dressing and started back down the elevator. Stitch lifted one corner of his blanket and watched her disappear down the hole before rolling over onto his side facing the wall.

In no time at all Lilo was done and heading back up to the dome hoping Stitch was up, but expecting him to still be in bed. It was no surprise to her to see him sound asleep. She sighed loudly before noticing that one of Stitch's legs was exposed to the open and a wide grin spread across her face. Still barefoot she crept across the room silently then leapt onto Stitch's bunk and grabbed his leg.

"Tickle attack!!" She yelled as she began tickling the bottom of Stitch's foot. Stitch was totally pinned down under her weight and the blanket so all he could do was jerk around and laugh helplessly.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! N-naga tickle Stitch!! Naga tickle Stitch!!" He cried out between laughter.

"Uh uh, I told you to be up by the time I finished showering and that if you weren't I'd do something. Now you have to pay for the consequences of your actions." She responded as she began tickling his sides.

"Now, are you gonna be a good little alien and get up or do I have to keep tickling you?" She asked.

"Stitch up! Stitch up! STITCH UP!!" He laughed as she ceased her attack and flopped down on the bed by his side. Stitch giggled a little more before turning to face her . Lilo sighed lovingly.

"I'm going to miss these times we have together. Things just wont be the same for me in California without my Uncle Jumba, Aunt Pleakley and especially my little blue alien buddy." She said.

"Stitch is going to miss Lilo too." Stitch said while looking into her soft brown eyes then down to her lips. She was wearing her favorite colored lipstick, a lighter brown color that he thought went really well with her eye color, and for some reason he felt an urge to lean in and kiss those lips. His thoughts were interrupter when Nani called up the elevator shaft.

"Lilo what are you doing to poor Stitch? You two woke me plus probably half of the neighborhood up with your yelling and laughing." She yelled up to them.

"And maybe the people on a few nearby moons too." They heard Pleakley add.

"Sorry!" Lilo called back down to them. "Man is Nani-saurus Rex cranky in the mornings. She and David must have gotten home again super late last night."

"Ih, cranky." Stitch added. He got up and sat on the side of his bunk while he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Lilo was near the foot of her bed gazing at her reflection in a full length mirror. As Stitch sat there he watched Lilo check herself over and marveled at the beautiful young woman she had become.

She was now 21 years old and very fit and attractive. Stitch wondered why more boys weren't fighting for her affections, but then again she did have sort of a shy side ever since he first met her. Her younger chubby body was now replaced with curves in all of the right places and toned arms and legs. Her black hair fell to about her shoulders and framed her face nicely. Stitch was snapped out of his thoughts when Nani called back up to them to see if they wanted breakfast.

"Race you downstairs." Lilo challenged as she stepped onto the platform. Stitch always loved a challenge. He leapt down between the hatches before they could close and flew down the side of the shaft. He made it downstairs and crawled up the wall to the ceiling just as Lilo arrived downstairs and continued to the kitchen where he stopped above the table and fell into his seat.

"Beat you!" He teased as Lilo took a seat next to him. Nani came to the table and put a plate in front of him, Lilo and Pleakley, who was reading the newspaper. Eggs, hash browns and sausages were there with fresh orange juice to drink. A fourth plate sat before an empty seat.

"Pleakley, could you go upstairs and tell Jumba that breakfast is ready? I don't want him coming down later and cleaning out the refrigerator when he finally decides to wake up." Nani asked the thin alien.

"Jumba wasn't in his bed last night, he was out in his spaceship working…AGAIN!" Pleakley sighed.

"What? That's, like the fifth time this week!" Nani cried. "What's he doing out there anyways? You should know, he tells you everything."

"Well not this time. He's never around for me to ask anymore and when he actually is around all he'll ever say is 'Is evil genius business, not walking noodle business.'" Pleakley answered.

"Well he'd better be around tonight or he'll REALLY be sorry." Nani growled as she began doing the dishes.

"Nani tickle Jumba?" Stitch asked but Nani ignored him.

"So what do you and Stitch have planned for today?" Nani asked.

"I have a few errands to run, but I thought we could do a little surfing and drive the countryside. We shouldn't be out too late, I don't think."

"Well don't come home too soon, this is your and Stitch's last day together and I want you two to cram in as much fun as you possibly can in one day." Nani said all too enthusiastically.

"Okay." Lilo said giving her sister a strange look. "We should get going anyways, come on Stitch!" Stitch finished drinking his orange juice then hopped to his feet and followed Lilo out the door.

"Bye." They called to their Ohana as they climbed down the steps to their home and up to Nani's buggy. Their surfboards were secured to the roof on a rack. Lilo got in the driver's seat with Stitch riding shotgun and they pulled out of the driveway and into town.

The first few hours with Lilo Stitch was bored out of his mind. The 'errands' Lilo had planned to do involved going to the DMV, talking to the bank about a loan and going to the market, and she made Stitch sit out in the car the whole time. She left the car's radio and the air conditioner on though. Fortunately Lilo soon came back to the car and placed three bags of groceries in the back seat. She then sat herself back down in the driver's seat and smiled at Stitch.

"At first I balked at the idea of having to pick up a few things at the store for Nani, but then she told me I could buy a few extra things for us today." She said happily.

Stitch turned around and looked at the grocery bags wondering what Lilo bought for them. She started the car up and left the store parking lot and drove in a direction now all too familiar to Stitch. He knew they were going to the beach and the real fun was about to start.

Soon Lilo pulled off to the side of the road and they took the bags of groceries, surfboards and a small barbeque with them to the other side where the beach entrance was. They picked out a spot on the beach and placed their supplies down carefully. Lilo opened the bags and revealed their contents to Stitch; charcoal, lighter fluid and matches for the barbeque, and fish steaks for lunch.

They decided to go surfing first to work up an appetite, and a few hours later they decided to head back to shore to start cooking their fish. At one point in their stay at the beach they bumped into Myrtle Edmonds and her trio of friends. In the past Myrtle and her friends couldn't stand Lilo because they thought she was weird, but after the whole 'Leroy' incident all that changed and they all became best of friends. Lilo asked them if they wanted to join them but they turned her down saying they needed to go somewhere important. Lilo thought it was a little bit weird, but shrugged it off and surfed with Stitch a while longer before they decided to leave.

They caught the sunset as they cruised through the countryside so Lilo could enjoy Kauai one last time and when it got dark they bought some fast food and headed home.

They were a bit surprised when they got home and noticed the lights were off. They knew Nani would be at work and Jumba was most likely still in his ship, so where could Pleakley have been off to all day? They figured it was a good excuse to have more alone time together and climbed the steps to their front door. Lilo placed her hand on the doorknob and opened the front door. She reached over and turned on the living room lights and was surprised by a balloon with 'GO TO THE BACKYARD' written on it. She turned to look at Stitch but he wasn't behind her, she was the only person in the house.

Curious, she did what the balloon told her to do and made her way through the house and to the door leading to the backyard. She started to feel a little bit scared when she saw that the door was already open, like she was in some teen slasher movie, and cautiously moved forward through the door and outside.

Once she felt the cool night air against her skin once more a chorus of voices suddenly shouted "Surprise!" and through the dim light she could see the silhouettes of Nani David and Splodyhead as they lit tiki torches in the background. When the lights from the lit tiki torches grew stronger Lilo looked around her and saw that the backyard was decorated in a party fashion and she was surrounded by friends, family and all 625 of Stitch's cousins. Red and purple streamers were carefully strung from all of the palm trees with small blue paper balls hanging every few feet in between. Near the house several tables were decorated with red tablecloths and trays of delicious looking food sat in them ready to be served to the guests. A make shift bar was set up near the tables with plastic red and blue cups sitting upside down on it and a variety of soft drinks were offered on tap, with a couple kegs of alcoholic beverages for the adults. The guest's tables were set up with white tablecloths and in the center of each table a bouquet of lovely spring flowers was neatly picked and put in crystal vases. Finally in the background a mixture of old Elvis Presley tunes as well as other classic artists' music was playing loudly with none other that Samples as the night's DJ.

Lilo was beside herself in surprise and joy as one by one her Ohana crowded around her to greet her. Lilo spotted her sister Nani and ran up to give her a giant hug.

"Nani, I can't believe you guys went through all of the trouble to throw me a going away party. How did you do it without me finding out about it?" Lilo asked in bewilderment.

"For one thing your little friend Stitch is very good at keeping a secret. He had all of this planned from the start and it was his job to keep you occupied today so we could do this for you. Nani answered. Stitch came out from behind Nani and grinned widely up at Lilo.

Lilo smiled and bent down to pat him on his head. "You are one sneaky little alien." She told him.

"Lilo surprised?" Stitch asked him.

"Very much." She responded.

"And the surprises don't stop there." Nani piped up. "I was supposed to wait until a little bit later, but, oh well… follow me."

Nani led Lilo around the side of the house with Stitch at her heels all of the way out to the driveway. Once both women were there Lilo noticed a large object sitting in the driveway with a red tarp spread out over it and a card reading 'To Lilo' taped to the side. Lilo gave Nani a questioning look and Nani rolled her eyes towards the object, encouraging her sister to uncover it.

Lilo took hold of one side of the tarp and firmly pulled it off, revealing Nani's old 1963 Volkswagen beetle, only now completely restored and given a fresh coat of blue paint.

Lilo's jaw hit the ground as she turned to her sister. "Nani?" Was all that she could get out. Her sister answered by reaching into her pocket and tossing her something small and shiny. Lilo reached out and caught the object, noticing it was a set of car keys. She was speechless.

"Nani, are you sure about this?" Lilo asked cautiously. "This was your favorite car to drive when we were younger. This was the car that Dad used to use to take us to school and the car that he taught you to drive in."

"It's also the car that I taught you to drive in. I figured that since this car has such a rich history with our family that it was about time for it to be passed down to you. Besides you'll need a car to drive when you get to California, and they aren't cheap, especially on your budget. That's why I took the liberty to take it into town and have it fixed up for you."

"Thanks, Nani." Lilo said happily as she drew her sister in for another huge hug. As Nani hugged her back she failed to notice a tear sliding down her cheek.

"You grew up too fast." Nani whispered.

As the hours grew later everyone at the party was having a great time. Lilo ate some of the food Nani had cooked, even though she was still full from the fish and fast food she ate earlier in the day. She was also drinking a little bit more than she should, and when Stitch asked her to dance she only took a couple of steps before running off to vomit in the bushes. A concerned Stitch went to look for her and finally found her sitting on a chair on the edge of the backyard, looking a little pale and fanning herself with one of her hands.

"Lilo going to be okitaka?" Stitch asked her

"Yesh, I think I'll be alright Shtitch, as soon as the room stops spinning." Lilo managed to mumble. She suddenly started hiccupping then leaned over and vomited once more- in her own lap.

"Aw, man!" Lilo groaned as she took notice of what happened. Stitch couldn't help but smile a little and shake his head. She took some napkins and started to clean herself up while Stitch watched the other guests dance. The two sat there together in silence before a drunken Pleakley sauntered up to them wearing his typical Earth female costume and a lamp shade over his head.

"What'sh up, party people?" He slurred out as he lifted up the lamp shade. He noticed what Lilo did to herself and grimaced in disgust. "Ugh!"

Lilo finished cleaning herself up as best as she could before grinning up at Pleakley stupidly. He decided that he would have a seat on the other side of Stitch, just to avoid being downwind of the horrible odor emitting from Lilo's shirt.

"So, are you having fun?" Pleakley asked hoping to change the subject.

"You bet! I couldn't ask for a better Ohana." Lilo said cheerfully. "I've got all of my close friends and family around me, I've gotten a chance to talk to everyone and let them wish me well in my new life. And I'm having the most fun right now ever! Except…"

"What?" Stitch and Pleakley asked together and Lilo looked around at all of the party guests, noticing for the first time that night that someone was missing. And suddenly it hit her.

"Jumba! I haven't seen Jumba anywhere at the party tonight."

"Oh, damn him! Well, I guess we'd better go try to look for him before Nani discovers he's not here and tears him a new one." Pleakley suggested.

"Stitch knows where to find him. Follow me." Stitch cried as he got down on all fours and began sniffing the ground. Lilo and Pleakley got up from their seats and began to follow the blue alien. His nose lead them past the party and all of the guests and in the direction of the red spacecraft.

Stitch walked quickly up the path leading to the ship with Pleakley and Lilo close behind, and when the trio got there they stopped right outside the door. Everything looked normal, except for the large dent protruding from the door.

"Jumba? Are you in there?" Pleakley called as he began pounding on the door. He tried the ship's intercom from the outside but was only greeted with white noise. Lilo suddenly had a feeling that something was terribly wrong.

"We've got to find a way in." She cried as she opened up a secret compartment on the outside of the ship and released a handle that would allow her to open the ship's door manually. The door was only able to open up halfway because of the dent, but the three of them were able to squeeze through with no problems.

Inside the ship it was pitch dark, but with the occasional flicker of the lights they were able to get a good look and they gasped in horror. Jumba's lab was completely destroyed. There were chemicals and broken glass vials on the floor and all of the machinery was damaged beyond repair, sparking and smoking every once in a while. Jumba's lab table was over turned and in the corner more of his important equipment was destroyed. The whole lab looked as if some child had a wild tantrum and broke everything in sight. And the worse of it was the hole in the far side of the ship which looked to be at least ten feet tall in size. Lilo began to wonder what could possibly have put a hole that big there.

Stitch started forward, stepping over the broken equipment so he could go over and analyze the hole better. He got as far as the lab table before he noticed an arm laying behind it and walked in that direction.

"Jumba!!" Stitch cried when he found Jumba's unconscious body lying underneath the table. He pushed the table away and stared down sadly at his creator. Lilo and Pleakley joined him.

"He's hurt pretty bad, we shouldn't move him in case he's got a broken neck or something. Stitch, you go back to the party and tell Nani to call 911, Pleakley and I will stay here with Jumba and make sure he's ok." Lilo ordered.

"Okitaka!" Stitch said as he turned around and headed out of the ship and back towards the house. Pleakley turned around to look at the hole in the ship, his one eye huge with worry.

"Looks like the party's over." He told himself.

End of Chapter 1

A/N: Whew! I finally finished the first chapter! This was a long time coming and I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out! Stay tuned for chapter 2 coming as soon as I can write it. Disney owns Lilo and Stitch, not me, I only write fan fiction about the characters. Special thanks goes out too to Misgel for doing her part to help this story come together.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 is finally up! Yay! Sorry I've been so slow to post new chapters, I've just been through a lot lately and I will try to update more often.

**Chapter 2**

"Can I have everyone's attention please?" Nani called from the DJ table. "First of all I want to thank each and every one of you for showing up at my sister's 'Aloha' party. Each one of you, both experiments and hometown friends have touched our lives in so many unforgettable ways, and I'm glad that you're all apart of our Ohana. Being from a broken family has been tough for both me and Lilo. After loosing out parents I didn't know how I would be able to make it raising a little sister and working to support ourselves, but after we were introduced to Stitch and then all of you, I'm happy to say I feel like we are a whole family again."

Nani paused as the partygoers erupted with applause and waited for it to die down before continuing.

"Unfortunately tonight due to a family emergency that we just discovered we're going to have to cut this party a little short. Thanks for coming everyone! I thank you, my family thanks you but most of all Lilo thanks you for being here for her. We love you all."

The people in the crowd began to look at each other questioningly and murmur among themselves as they all gathered their things and got up to leave. They made their way around the side of the house to the driveway where all of their cars were parked. Pleakley stood there on the side of the driveway making small talk with the guests and seeing them off. A few people asked him if he knew what happened but he refused to give away any information.

As the last of the guests were pulling out onto the street Pleakley watched a small squad of police cars and an ambulance drive up to the house. They were all being led in by a black Mercedes, a car whose driver the family knew all too well.

When they all came to a stop Pleakley walked up to greet the leader, a tall muscular African-American man who wore a black suit with a red tie and black sunglasses even though it was already dark outside. The man removed his sunglasses and smiled as Pleakley approached him.

"Cobra Bubbles!" Pleakley said excitedly. "It's really good to see you again, though I wish it were under better circumstances."

"Hello, Pleakley." Cobra Bubbles greeted in his deep baritone voice. "How's Lilo? I'm guessing something must have happened or I wouldn't be standing here talking to you."

"Well it is the weekend. What else could you possibly be doing right now?" Pleakley asked him

Cobra narrowed his eyes for a minute. "I could be home. Asleep in my bed. You know that I'm not a night person and that I don't like to be disturbed, especially when its after midnight." He deadpanned.

"Sorry, again." Pleakley said quietly. "A family emergency just happened to come up and we couldn't think of anyone better to call but you."

"So now that you've got me here give me the details." Cobra suggested as he followed Pleakley to the backyard.

At this time the police officers and paramedics were already in the backyard. While the medics and a large portion of the police were at the ship working on widening the entrance so that they could get their equipment to the patient the rest were interviewing the family and any experiments that had decided to stay and help.

Everyone on the island now knew that Jumba, Pleakley and the experiments were actually aliens from outer space and they were all fine with it. Public knowledge of their existence actually began around the time Leroy was created and after he had rounded up all of the experiments at the Aloha Dome to be destroyed by Dr. Hamstervielle.

A few eye witnesses had spotted Hamstervielle's ship as it floated above the sports arena and had called in the police. The whole scene drew quite a crowd, actually more than half of the town. By the time Hamstervielle and the leroys were defeated and Lilo, Stitch, Gantu and the 625 other experiments were seen exiting the dome so many questions had arisen that the next day the town's mayor had personally met with Cobra Bubbles and the Grand Councilwoman to confirm their existence and declare all experiments official residents of Earth and Kokaua Town.

Since then all of the experiments lived day to day working in their one true places and even Jumba and Pleakley contributed what they could to the community. And now it was the community's time to give back to Jumba.

The area around Jumba's ship was swarming with people, some of them Forensic scientists taking samples of various items in the ship while others wore radiation suits and looked for any possible radioactive leaks. Nani was standing right outside the ship still filling Cobra in on all of the details. Pleakley had already gone to bed since there was really nothing he could do anymore and Stitch decided that he and Lilo should do the same since she was supposed to be leaving in the morning.

High above in their rooftop dome the lights were turned out and everything would have been peaceful if it weren't for all of the activity outside. Lilo was lying quietly in her bed waiting to fall asleep. Stitch, unfortunately, was still restless and was watching everything happen in the backyard through his window on his bunk. He watched as a large gurney was taken out of the ambulance and wheeled through the backyard and into the ship. The gurney reemerged a few minutes later with Jumba's massive sized body strapped down tightly to it as it made it's way back.

Up until this point Stitch was in denial about what had happened. To him it just seemed like it was someone else this was all happening to, but everything seemed to hit home once he saw Jumba's body lying motionless on the gurney as it was being loaded up into the ambulance. The one person he had known his entire life since his creation, the one person who had fought to protect him, not only from the glitch he had suffered through all of those years ago but from a society who would shun him for being different, cast aside just because he wasn't born naturally, was now broken. Helpless. And there wasn't a thing he could do for his beloved creator.

Feeling just as helpless Stitch closed his eyes and rested his head against the cool glass of the window. He needed reassurance that Jumba was going to be alright but the problem was he didn't even know if Jumba was going to come out of this and things were going to be like they were before. A few tears trickled down his cheeks as Stitch sat there sobbing quietly to himself.

"Stitch?" A concerned voice called out to him in the dark.

"Lilo? What are you still doing awake? You've got a plane to catch tomorrow." Stitch asked her

"Can't sleep." She answered. "My body is tired but my brain refuses to rest. I've got too many things running through my mind right now; my flight tomorrow, my new life in California and all of the new people I'm going to meet, but mostly I can't stop thinking about Jumba."

Stitch watched as things were wrapped up outside. The ambulance containing Jumba was finally loaded up and slowly rolled out of their driveway. The police officers finished questioning Nani and got back into their cars to escort the ambulance to the hospital. Soon only the lonely moon was left alone outside as it shone down on the earth.

Stitch lay down on his back and stared up at the ceiling. Things were almost too quiet now. He was glad when he heard Lilo's voice again break the silence.

"I guess I don't need to ask you if you're worried about him." She said. "He's been a part of our broken Ohana now for so long that I actually think of him as a blood relative. Pleakley too. Though now that I think about it I guess he's more of a father to you and your cousins."

"Huh?" Stitch asked as he snapped his head in Lilo's direction. He had never thought about it in that way before. It was true that Jumba had successfully created Stitch and all of his 625 other experiments, and that he was also there to personally witness the birth of all of his experiments , but they had all only thought of him as their evil genius creator but never really a father figure. During their creation Jumba did clone his own DNA to make each experiment a part of him so it had to be true.

"You're lucky to have someone like him for a father. He cares so much about all of you like you were his own children." Lilo continued. "Its been so long now that I don't even remember what my own parents were like. I'll ask Nani to tell me about them every once in a while to try to remember but I only remember bits and pieces. I envy her sometimes for being the oldest and getting to know them better than I did. Then I met you, Jumba, Pleakley and the experiments and dared to dream that my family was whole again."

Stitch sighed loudly, slipping off of his bed and walked towards Lilo's voice.

"Can Stitch sleep with you tonight?" He asked her.

"Of course." She replied. "After what happened tonight I guess we're both feeling a little lonely."

Lilo flipped back her blanket and Stitch crawled up onto her bed and cuddled into her warm body. She covered them both back up and wrapped both of her arms around his abdomen hugging him closer to her and nuzzled into his soft fur. Stitch purred softly happy to be there with her. She kissed the back of his head and closed her eyes to drift off to sleep.

"Goodnight, Stitch." She whispered.

"Sweet dreams, Lilo." He replied. He closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep as well but something still disturbed him. He didn't have the heart to tell anyone earlier that night when they found Jumba lying unconscious in the ship but he could smell the unmistakable aroma of an experiment there. The scent marking was masked so he couldn't tell exactly which experiment it was but it still troubled him deeply to think that someone in his own family may be responsible for what happened to Jumba. The rest of the night Stitch tossed and turned in a fitful slumber.

The next morning Lilo was up and ready to go to the airport by 10 am. Thankfully this time Stitch was more cooperative in getting up and when he was ready he carried Lilo's luggage down the dome's elevator for her and dropped it off by the door. Nani was already up and making breakfast for them before she had to go to work.

"Morning, Nani!" Lilo and Stitch called as they walked into the kitchen and sat at the table.

"Morning you two. I hope you're hungry because I made your favorite." Nani said as she poured them both a large helping of oatmeal. "I already ate so I'll finish getting ready and when you're done I'll take you to the airport on my way to work. Stitch, here's thirty dollars so you can take a taxi home after Lilo leaves."

She handed him the money and left for the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later when they were done the three of them grabbed Lilo's stuff and walked out the door to Nani's buggy. The luggage was put into the back and they started out of the driveway onto the main road.

Lilo could tell Nani had a hard night also. She was a worrier and probably spent most of the night lying in bed worrying about Jumba and if Lilo was going to make it to the airport on time for her flight. Both of Nani's eyes were red and she was slow and unresponsive. Much of the car ride was spent in complete silence, which made Lilo uncomfortable.

"So, uh, what did Cobra Bubbles have to say last night after Stitch and I went to bed?" Lilo asked her, trying to break the silence.

"Oh, you, know. Just that Jumba was probably in a coma and that if we hadn't found him when we did the situation could've been a whole lot worse." Nani replied. He was pretty vague about what caused the explosion, saying it could have been a number of different things, but it was nothing radioactive or lethal."

"How long do you think he was like that before we found him?" Lilo continued.

"The forensics guess that the explosion happened about three days ago and they took some samples to analyze." Nani said.

Lilo frowned. Cobra Bubbles wasn't the only one being vague right now, and getting her sister to open up was harder than getting Stitch to take a bath.

"Do you think he'll be ok?" Lilo pressed on.

"Hard to say. Only time will tell." Nani responded.

Sighing deeply Lilo decided to give up on making conversation with her sister and stared out her window, enjoying the countryside before they arrived at the airport.

A few minutes later when they reached their destination Nani popped the trunk open and Stitch helped Lilo take her luggage to the bag check counter. With her stuff checked in Lilo made sure she still had her plane ticket and turned to her sister for their goodbyes.

"Take care of yourself now, Lilo. Don't do anything that you would regret later." Nani sobbed while drawing her sister into a giant hug. Lilo hugged her back and felt a few tears of her own fall down her cheeks.

"I want you to have this too." Nani continued as she opened up Lilo's fingers and placed a one hundred dollar bill in her palm.

"This is from all of us. We're all so proud of you." Nani said. Lilo hugged her sister again and kissed her forehead.

With most of the goodbyes already said and done Nani got into her buggy and turned back toward her sister. She reached out and held onto Lilo's hand one more time.

"The car is being flown to California sometime this week so it should arrive a couple of days after you get there. There will be someone from the airport to drive it to your house so you wont have to go anywhere to pick it up." Nani instructed.

"Thanks, Nani, for everything ." Lilo said giving her a tearful smile.

"Good bye and good luck. We'll stay in contact. I love you." Nani called as she pulled her hand back and drove off to work. She looked into her viewer and watched as her sister's image grew smaller and smaller before sobbing and wiping away some tears with her hand.

Lilo looked down at Stitch and sighed.

"And then there were two." She said.

Lilo and Stitch walked through the entrance of the airport and looked around. They had been here often when they were kids so that Lilo could take pictures of the tourists and they knew their way around. As always there were hundreds of people dashing about, in a hurry to catch their planes or to gather what they needed before their flights left.

The airport itself was a two story building, the first floor was used mainly for passengers to buy tickets or if they were just arriving to claim their bags while the second floor housed dozens of little stores and newspaper stands with a semi fancy café in the center. This was a favorite place for them to go and eat as they often did when Lilo would just receive her allowance as a kid. Stitch thought that they made the best coconut cake on the whole island here.

They rode the escalator to the second floor and walked into the café. While Lilo ordered their food Stitch found them a seat right next to a window that looked out onto the tarmac where they could watch the planes take off and land. Her plane didn't leave yet for another forty five minutes which gave them plenty of time to be able to sit down and enjoy each other's company for a while longer.

Lilo came back to the table with coffee for them both, coconut cake for Stitch and angel food for her. The two of them reminisced back to their childhood days as experiment hunters while they waited and Lilo told him what life would be like for her living in California.

"Tell Stitch again where you'll be living in California." Stitch begged her.

"My friend Annie Pacheco from high school is already living there and going to school." Lilo started. "From what she tells me in her letters, the house I'm going to be living in is a large one story building that's a part of a larger fraternity in the 'Kappa Phi Beta' family. Five of us will be living there altogether, Annie and me, and three other guys, Rick, Tony and Joe. The three of them can be quite a handful, I've been told, and at times she says that she feels like a den mother..."

Stitch rested his head on his hands as he listened to Lilo, enjoying the sound of her voice while he still could. He always liked the stories that she came up with and even though he couldn't come with her he still wished that he could so that he could meet her future roommates.

As Stitch sat there enjoying their time together an announcement soon stated that Lilo's plane was now ready to begin boarding the first few sections. Stitch's heart sunk a little bit knowing that the time had finally come to tell her goodbye.

Lilo left a tip on the table before the two of them got up and left the café and headed to Lilo's departure gate. A line had already formed once they got there and they took their place. All around him Stitch observed the other people as they too saw their loved ones off or greet them as they walked out of the tunnel and all of the emotions that went along.

Stitch didn't know how he would make it without Lilo by his side until she was finished with college and came back to the islands, but he did know that he had to be strong and supportive; for not only Nani, Jumba and Pleakley, but mostly for Lilo. Finally it was Lilo's turn to hand her ticket over and board the plane. Once she got her ticket stub back she took Stitch's paw and stepped aside to tell him goodbye.

She squatted down to his eye level and took his other paw in her hands, her eyes had already begun to get red and tear up.

"Stitch, first off, thanks for being my friend." She started, her voice cracking with emotion. "If I hadn't met you when I did I probably would have grown up an even more screwed up person than before. I want you to know that you really have touched my life in more positive ways than you could imagine, and I'll really miss you for that."

Stitch's eyes also began to water as be cried silently. He wished he could find just the right words to say back to her but for right now words escaped him.

"Nani said that you could use her computer anytime you miss me to email me, and you already know the house number where I'm going to be living so don't hesitate to contact me." She said.

"Thanks, Lilo, I will." He assured her. He stared deeply into her eyes and she deeply into his, unspoken emotions of love, sadness and hope passed between them.

"Oh, I almost forgot to give you this." Stitch said as he let go of Lilo's hands and extended one of his extra paws. A small object that loked like a makeup compact sat in his palm, waiting for her to take.

"It's a cell communicator, exactly like Pleakley's. He already gave me one and wanted me to personally give this one to you on the day you left. Now we can call each other directly whenever we miss each other." Stitch told her.

Lilo took the small communicator from him before drawing him into the biggest hug she had ever given him.

"Thanks, Stitch." She said happily. She was so overcome with emotion that before she even knew what she was doing she had puckered her lips up and kissed him on his lips. Stitch was a bit surprised by this but still returned the kiss.

Lilo finally broke away, realizing that she had just kissed her best childhood friend in a passionate way. She touched her lips with her left hand and blushed.

"I'm sorry." She said after a minute of silence and rose to her feet.

Stitch looked up at her blankly. "Don't be." He replied

Lilo turned around, remembering that she needed to be on the plane. She picked up her small carry-on bag and put it over her shoulder then patted Stitch on the head.

"Bye Stitch!" She called as she walked down the boarding tunnel to her plane. "I'll love you always!"

"Aloha, I love you too." He called softly after her.

Stitch waited until the plane had finished boarding and watched as it coasted down the runway and climbed into the air before he started back to the airport entrance to go home. Once he arrived outside he hailed a taxi cab over to him and got in the back.

"Where ya heading to?" The driver asked him in a thick island accent.

"South Kokoua Town." Stitch replied as he buckled his seat belt. The driver pulled away from the sidewalk and into the circular roadway in front of the airport, then soon entered the main highway that would take them straight in Kokoua Town.

Stitch stared out his window and noticed dark clouds beginning to cluster behind the airport and knew that soon the rains would come. He didn't care though, he sort of liked the rain anyways and since his best friend left today he didn't care what happened. The stormy clouds were sort of an outward manifestation of the way he felt inside and he welcomed them. He took one last look at the airport before it disappeared behind a small mountain. He knew Lilo was perfectly safe on her plane as it flew toward it's destination, but for some reason he didn't feel at ease. For some odd reason he felt a premonition that he would never see Lilo alive again, but he shook it off as best as he could and tried to enjoy the rest of the ride home.

End of Chapter 2

A/N: I watched a new Lilo and Stitch music video lately at Youtube that has kind of put me in a melancholy mood. It was set to the Avril Lavigne song "I'm With You" and it really did a good job in analyzing their friendship. There are so many good Lilo and Stitch music videos set to good music there that I would really recommend checking them out if you are a L&S fan. I get a lot of my inspiration from these videos as well as from other authors here.

I promise that I will try to do a better job of updating my story more and hope that I'm doing alright with what I have already. This is my first full length fic if you don't count my Rocko's Modern Life one shot that I wrote a while ago, and I'm trying to do the best I can. Anyway please read and review.


	3. Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

In a short amount of time the dark gray clouds that hung over the town turned into a full fledged rain storm, drenching everything it touched. The people walking the sidewalks outside began opening their umbrellas to stay dry and those that didn't have anything to shield themselves with hid under awnings or used newspapers for cover. Puddles began to collect in the streets and by the curbs. A clap of thunder roared overhead, signaling to everyone that the storm showed no signs of stopping.

Stitch didn't care though. He heard the rain pouring on top of the cab as it drove through downtown but he seemed more interested in his hands as they sat in his lap, fingers interlaced. He was deep in thought thinking of Lilo and was lost in his own little world.

In the front seat the cab driver was using his cell phone, yelling furiously into it and drowning out the music on the radio. He became so distracted and angered that he began swerving dangerously around in traffic. The cab wove in and out of the lanes and narrowly missed side swiping a minivan. Stitch snapped out of his thoughts and became aware of what was happening around him when he began being violently jerked around, even though he was wearing a safety belt. The driver eventually finished his phone call and threw the phone down onto the front passenger seat.

"My idiot son got arrested again. The cops said he was picked up an hour ago and I gotta pay $300 just to bail him out." The driver scowled. Stitch stared out the window, not interested in conversation and totally ignored him.

The driver continued on. "Yeah, can you believe it? Not only does he have a suspended license but he thought that by stealing his older brother's license and using it to drive and get into clubs that it would be all right."

The driver noticed that the traffic light up ahead had just turned yellow and decided to try to blow right through it while still rambling on. Stitch glared at the man out of the corner of his eye and growled.

Will this guy ever shut up? Stitch thought to himself. He noticed that on the next block up was the hospital where Jumba was staying and decided to stop off there. Anything to get away from this annoying human.

"Let me off right here." Stitch ordered.

The driver gave Stitch a confused look through the rearview mirror. "What?! I thought that you wanted me to take you to the other side of town. That's still fifteen minutes away."

"Right here is good." Stitch growled.

The driver shrugged his shoulders and obediently pulled the taxi over to the side of the street. Stitch grabbed the door handle and practically tore it off of its hinges trying to get it open. He hopped out onto the sidewalk and kicked the door closed.

"You owe me twenty nine dollars." The driver yelled out of the passenger window. Stitch extended his lower left arm which contained the money in its claw. He walked around to the driver's window and handed him the cash before walking back around to the sidewalk and up to the front of the hospital.

"No tip included?" The driver yelled out to Stitch expectantly.

Stitch stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around to face him. "Yeah, learn to drive!" Stitch hissed, then continued walking though the automatic sliding doors.

Stitch looked around in awe at the size of this place. From the outside he would have never guessed that this building would be so huge, but now he felt like an ant in the Empire State Building. The interior was painted in soft blue and cream colored hues and soothing muzak played over the loudspeaker. Receptionists sat in an office area behind fine oak desks, answering phones and looking up patient files on their computers. On the other side of the small lobby was a patient waiting area that was separated into two halves; one half had toys lined up neatly on a shelf on the wall, three toddlers played on the floor with various building blocks and stuffed animals. The other half was where the parents sat and could read magazines while they waited for their kids or their own turns.

Stitch stood in his place trying to remember which room his creator was put into, unfortunately he forgot to ask Nani that vital bit of information before he left home that morning and mentally slapped himself. He noticed that one of the receptionists had recently become available and decided to ask her.

"Excuse me." Stitch called up to the woman when he made it to the desk.

"Yes sir, how can I help you…" She trailed off when she saw there was nobody there.

"Down here." Stitch said raising his arm and waving his paw in front of her . She stood up from her chair and looked over the edge of the desk to see Stitch's furry blue face staring up at her.

"Oh, hello sweetie! What can I help you with? Did you get separated from your mommy." She asked sweetly. Stitch rolled his eyes, she must have thought that he was some kid dressed up in a costume. By now everyone in Kauai knew about Stitch and his cousins and the only people who ever mistook Stitch for a kid in a costume were tourists, and he hated that.

__

This lady must have just moved here. Stitch thought. "Naga. I want to see Jumba."

"What's the last name?" She asked as she turned her attention to the computer screen.

"Jookiba- Pelekai." Stitch responded.

"Jookiba- Pelekai." She repeated, her hands flying across the keyboard at 100 miles per hour. Finally the name appeared.

"Patient Jumba Jookiba- Pelekai: Intensive care unit, room 388." She finally told him.

"Thanks!" Stitch yelled as he ran in the direction of the nearest elevator.

A few minutes later Stitch had reached the third floor and was walking down the hall while looking at the room numbers on each of the doors.

__

368, 369, 370. He stared down the long hallway; only eighteen more rooms until Jumba. He realized at this point that he had quickened his pace to a jog as he got closer to the room. Finally he was standing in front of a large door painted white, like the walls, with the numbers '388' on it.

He watched as his paw reached up to the door knob and pushed it open. The room beyond had its blinds drawn shut and the only light was being generated from a TV showing some afternoon talk show. The sound was muted so the muzak could be heard, but the closed captions were on.

Stitch stepped through the doorway and looked to his left to Jumba's bed. Stitch lowered his ears and approached him slowly, taking in the sorry sight before him. Jumba lay dead still in the hospital bed, his head bandaged up, and sweat beads covering his face. A breathing device covered his mouth and nose which supplied oxygen to his lungs, and other machines were hooked up to him monitoring his heart and other vital signs. Stitch reached the edge of the bed and looked up at Jumba as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Jumba." Stitch whispered sadly. He stood there silently for a couple of minutes before he heard a soft knock on the door . The door was pushed open a crack and a pretty female nurse's face appeared, wearing a bright smile.

"Can I get anybody anything in here?" She asked as her hand came in and flicked the light on. She immediately saw Stitch standing by the bed blinking at her. Someone on the other side of the bed yelped loudly at the broken silence.

"Oops! Sorry, I didn't know he had company." She giggled as she disappeared behind the door.

"What's going on in here?" A voice from the back of the room whined. Stitch lifted his ears.

"Pleakley?" He asked aloud.

"Stitch?" The voice now identified as Pleakley responded as he got up from a chair and came around from the other side of the bed. "What time is it?"

Stitch looked over at a clock on the wall next to the TV. "6:15." Stitch answered.

Pleakley gasped. "Oh, no! I must've fallen asleep, and we could've already lost Jumba forever."

"Gabba, Pleakley?" Stitch asked, an eyebrow raised.

"I learned from watching Dr. Okra once that if someone falls into a coma, it helps to keep their mind at ease if they hear a familiar voice talking or reading to them." Pleakley explained. "I forgot to bring any Earth reading material, but I did find this small book that Nani must have left. It's fascinating! The stories are all about talking burning bushes, and an ark and a great flood, talking serpents in a lush garden, and…"

"Whatever. So is Jumba okitaka now"? Stitch asked, trying to change the subject.

"Who knows." Pleakley sighed. "He's been still as a log and unresponsive to anything. The doctor says he could be this way for years."

"Awww." Stitch groaned, lowering his ears again.

"But you know Jumba, he can bounce back from anything. Trust me. He'll pull through this in no time." Pleakley continued confidently.

Stitch however didn't share the same confidence as his tall noodle like friend. He already had to say goodbye to Lilo earlier, and just thinking about possibly never being able to hear his creator's comforting voice again made him want to loose it. His eyes filled with tears as he glanced at Jumba.

A long silence filled the air as neither could think of anything else to say. Pleakley brought the chair he was previously sitting on from around the bed and sat it next to another empty chair. He sat back down and then a few seconds later Stitch walked over to the other empty chair and took a seat, both facing the TV. The talk show that was previously on was just ending, and now a 'Lucky Charms' commercial featuring Lucky the Leprechaun was showing.

Stitch heard Pleakley sigh loudly beside him. "I'd sure like to know what Jumba was up to at the time of the explosion in his ship." He said, thinking out loud. Stitch slowly nodded his head in agreement.

That's when he thought of something. He remembered that for Jumba's own personal reasons, and bragging rights, he would always record the entire procedure whenever he created a brand new experiment. Unfortunately, Jumba also had somewhat of a big mouth, and would unintentionally reveal his secrets some way or another. Stitch just needed to find the right answers.

"Pleakley? Gabba last time Jumba sleep in own bed?" Stitch asked.

Pleakley looked over at Stitch briefly then up to the ceiling. "Well, the night before he started locking himself in his lab and working nonstop, he kept going on about some "Most super- evil genius idea ever" while changing into his pajamas. He thought that I was asleep, but I heard the whole thing. That was about a week and a half ago."

Stitch's ears perked with interest. "Really? He say anything out of ordinary?"

"Not really. It was mostly him congratulating himself on what an ingeniously evil genius he was, but when he finally did fall asleep, I heard him muttering something about an atom." Pleakley answered. "What's with all of the questions anyway?"

"Stitch have work to do at home." He said as he jumped off of his chair and onto the floor.

"I'm not sure what exactly you have planned, but I'll give you a ride home." Pleakley said as he also got up and collected his keys from the counter. They both said their goodbyes to the bedridden Jumba, then left to go home.

A few hours later Stitch was still up long after everyone else had gone to bed. He had used Jumba's laptop to hack into the ship's computer, and could now look at any bit of information, or watch any video journal he wanted, all while lying in the comforts of the living room sofa. He sat in the dark, the only light illuminating from the TV's glow.

At this point he had looked through almost all of Jumba's video documents, and had typed in any words he could think of that included the word 'atom,' or any variation of it, but wasn't having any luck yet. He finished reading the report he had just come upon and yawned. He took the laptop off of his legs and slid off of the couch, then trudged into the kitchen to make himself a sandwich.

A minute later he emerged with a banana, glass of milk and a peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich which he took a big bite out of. He walked over to his spot on the couch and made himself comfortable again, only instead of continuing his work he decided to take a break and watch the TV. He reached to his left and grabbed the remote control so he could turn the TV's volume up to a level he could hear.

It turned out the news was on, and Stitch wanted to see what was happening in the world today. By the time he got the volume up the news reporter who was on had already started her report. She wore a serious, but somewhat saddened look on her face, and as she talked a smaller picture on the upper right side of the screen appeared, showing what looked to be the wreckage of an airplane floating in the ocean taken by a news helicopter. Stitch's eyes stayed glued to the screen.

"…Some odd miles out in the Pacific Ocean, just outside the state of Hawaii, this 747 crashed into the water, being destroyed upon impact. So far there have been no survivors reported. Radio reports to the Hawaiian Providence Airport on the island of Hawaii indicate that this plane, who's destination was set at the LAX International Airport in Los Angeles, called in a distress call at 7:49 PM saying the engines were failing and that they were going to crash. At that time the signal was lost. Police so far have no clue about the nature of flight 1197's engine malfunction, but terrorism is suspected. This is Cynthia Blanch with the evening news. Good night."

Stitch couldn't believe what he just heard. He knew flight 1197 to be the airplane Lilo took out of Kauai this morning, and now the news was telling him that her flight had crashed and that there were no survivors yet. He was stunned; his eyes were wide and glued to the screen, but he could move to react to this situation.

No, this wasn't happening to him. This is the type of thing that always happens to someone else, and he wasn't someone else. He had never lost a loved one before, let alone this way.

He was in total denial.

"NANI!!!" He remembered screaming before being enveloped in darkness.

End of chapter 3

A/N: Sorry this took so long to get out. My family and I took a trip to Idaho a week ago and when we came back we found out that we had no power to our main internet connection, so we had no internet at home at all. I wanted to have this out in time for Official/Unofficial Stitch day (6/26), but we just now got internet back. Oh, well. Happy belated Stitch day to everyone at "Save Lilo and Stitch the Series". Look out for chapter 4. Reviews are appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Nani sighed as she lay on her mattress and tried to get comfortable. Not that the house was too humid for sleep, nor did she have too much on her mind, the problem tonight as well as every other night before was the loud mournful wailing Stitch was making in his tower bedroom. Ever since Lilo's death, he would disappear all day long and at night he cried himself to sleep. Nani gazed at the alarm clock on her dresser; 4:43 am. She sighed again in frustration as she wrapped her pillow around her ears, hoping to drown out the noise if only a little bit.

'_Poor Stitch.' _She thought to herself. Everyone in the family had taken Lilo's passing a bit differently, but Stitch seemed to be affected the most.

Nani thought back to when Lilo was still six years old and she had taken her to the animal shelter so that she could pick out a dog. Out of all of the animals that were there Lilo had picked the weird little blue one that had disgusting habits and smelled like a pile of vomit rotting in the sun. He was vicious, destructive and ill tempered at first when they brought him home, but he quickly warmed up to them and even grew to love them once he came to understand how broken and lonely the family, especially Lilo, really were.

Over the years their love for Stitch helped him to overcome obstacles of all kinds. A glitch in Stitch's system almost claimed his life, had Lilo not been there for him. She even helped Stitch rescue his ohana from the villainous Dr. Hamsterviel, and successfully find a place for each of them, and when things were beginning to look their bleakest during the battle with the Leroys, the entire ohana came together to defeat them.

Together, Lilo and Stitch had accomplished so much in their young lives, but now that he didn't have her anymore he wasn't the same person. Lilo was the Yin to Stitch's Yang, and after losing her he just crumbled and lost the will to live. In her he had lost many things; a best friend, a soul mate, and a sister.

Some nights when she was in bed trying to sleep and she would hear Stitch crying, Nani would sometimes cry herself to sleep as well. The entire household had changed dramatically within the last few weeks. Jumba was still in a coma and hospitalized, although he was no longer housed in Intensive Care, and Pleakley still spent most of his time at the hospital with him, hoping that one day soon Jumba would wake up.

That just left her and Stitch to occupy the house, but with him always gone during the daytime and coming home late at night, she was mostly by herself. She missed living in a full house that was constantly abuzz with activity dearly, and had become very lonely.

Frustrated, Nani raised a fist and brought it back down on the mattress with a dull thump. She unclenched her pillow from her head and sat up in a huff, then finally swung her legs over the side of the bed. With one of her feet she fished her slippers out from under her bed and pushed them on, protecting her from the icy cold floor. She got up off of the bed with a yawn and made her way through the darkened room to the door. She opened up her bedroom door and made her way to the top of the stairs, letting her eyes adjust to the dark a little bit more before going any further.

The moon's light glowed through a gap in the dark clouds above, illuminating places where many happy memories once took place. She stood still for a moment longer in silence, almost able to hear all of the happy laughter and conversations that filled the rooms, before a new set of sobs from Stitch broke her out of her thoughts.

Remembering what she was doing, Nani slowly and quietly descended the staircase so as not to disturb Stitch, and walked into the kitchen. She quickly flicked the kitchen lights on and squinted as she was momentarily blinded, but after a couple of quick blinks she was able to make her way to the other side of the kitchen to the pantry.

Opening up the small cupboard, she reached in and withdrew a can of raviolis. As she closed the door with one hand she reached for the silverware drawer and took out a can opener and a metal spoon with the other. A porcailin bowl was taken out of a second cupboard, and after Nani used the can opener to open the metal container, she dumped its contents into the bowl.

Nani walked a couple of steps to the end of the counter where the microwave sat. She opened the door, placing the bowl inside, then re-shut it and punched in the numbers "1:30" on the number pad. The microwave came to life, and Nani sat at the kitchen table waiting for the food to heat up.

After a while the microwave began emitting a series of shrill beeps, telling Nani it had finished its job, and she came over and opened the door. She took the bowl out and placed the spoon inside, then turned and shut the microwave as she exited the kitchen, turning the light off as she passed the wall switch.

Finding herself in the darkness once again, she waited until her eyes adjusted before walking over to the elevator that would take her up into the tower. Stitch's crying got louder the closer she got to the tower.

A surprise awaited her when she arrived there; the paper sign with the word '_KAPU_' that once belonged to Lilo, and hung on _her _door, was hung at the back of the shaft. She also noted that the elevator itself was disabled, a failsafe Jumba built into the tower just in case of a tsunami or a burglar.

'_You really think that'll stop me?' _She shook her head as she reached to the back of the shaft, under the sign, and revealed a hidden panel. Flipping a switch that once again allowed the elevator to work, she smiled as the lift came down to her level.

She rode the lift up and stepped off when she reached the top. She sat the late night snack on the desk next to the computer and looked around the darkened room. It looked the same as it always had, although a little bit dirtier, and some of the furniture had been knocked over. Nani wrinkled her nose in disgust at a stench that seemed to hang in the air, she came to the conclusion that Stitch must not be bathing. She waved a hand in front of her face and began looking under the beds and other furniture in search of the sad little alien.

Nani found no sign of Stitch once she finished looking under everything in the room, and sat down on Lilo's bed, yawning loudly.

Her left hand had found its way under Lilo's pillow, coming across a foreign object; a book her brain told her after further investigation. She fished the book out and opened it. "_Lilo's experiment log."_

Nani flipped through a few pages studying the images of the experiments she came across and finally came to the end of the book. She let out a gasp as her eyes drank in the sight of the final picture on the page, a tear she didn't even know was there made its way down her cheek.

On it she saw younger versions of herself and her family, along with all of the experiments, even Cobra Bubbles and Myrtle Edmonds holding her experiment/puppy Gigi. They were all standing in front of the house smiling up at her, but Nani had her eyes locked on only Lilo's figure. "_Those are the times I wish I could relive."_

Another sob broke her out of her thoughts making her remember Stitch. The noise seemed to come from the closet. As silently as she could she got up off of the bed and crept in that direction.

The door was already opened up a crack and when she pushed it open the rest of the way she found Stitch sitting there hugging Scrump with his eyes shut tightly. The fur on his cheeks were damp with tears and his head was bowed. He rocked slightly back and forth as he sat there crying.

"Stitch?" She called softly as she got down on her hands and knees. Stitch jumped at the sound of her voice before peeking at her over his shoulder with one eye. He sniffled then turned back around and scooted into one of the dark corners of the closet.

"Stitch, please, don't shut me out. We're still an ohana, that means that we're also there for each other, especially when we need to be around other people."

She waited, hoping for a response but still didn't get one. Suddenly she remembered the food she brought up with her. She got up from the ground and walked back in the direction of the desk, then when she retrieved the bowl she walked back over to the closet and sat down this time all the way.

"I made you something to eat, just in case you were hungry." She tried again, offering him the bowl of luke warm pasta. "I'm not sure how well you've been eating, you being gone most of the time since Lilo died. This was her favorite food though, and it always seemed to cheer her up when she was sad."

In the dark corner that he sat in he could smell the delicious aroma of the food; he could practically taste it. It had been several days since he last ate something and his stomach growled in hunger but he chose to ignore it. He just didn't feel like eating.

Nani watched the bowl for a couple of minutes, hoping to see Stitch's blue paw take the food but it just sat there growing colder. She sighed again then crawled to the wall next to the closet and sat down with her back against it. From inside the closet she heard Stitch sigh too.

She let her head fall back against the wall with a dull thump, closing her eyes. She fought off the urge to go to sleep, instead thinking of what to say next to comfort Stitch. Minutes flew by and her eyes grew heavier.

Outside the clouds finally swallowed up the light from the moon. She could hear the wind howling in the night and the sound of raindrops falling softly on the windows. A feeling of déjà vu washed over Nani as this night reminded her exactly of the night she and Lilo lost their parents. The circumstances were uncanny except for this time she was the only surviving member of their family. Things never felt so hopeless.

"There was a time when I actually used to like the rain." Nani said, finally breaking the silence. "When Lilo and my parents died in that car accident so long ago it was raining just like this and I used to think the rain was the Gods crying down on us. Now I think that sounds so stupid."

Nani brought her knees up and hugged them to her chest. "It just feels like fate is toying with me. First my parents, now my little sister. She was too young to remember them but when she got older I used to tell her all about them and the fun things we used to do together. I had to be the responsible one and spent my teen years working various jobs and taking care of Lilo when I could've been out enjoying my youth."

She had to stop for a couple of seconds so that she could wipe the tears from her eyes and clear her throat; her voice had begun to break while she talked out loud.

"Stitch, you're not the only one who's deeply affected by this tragedy. If you ever feel like you want to talk to someone, or need company I'll still always be there for you. We still have Pleakley too, and I'm sure Jumba will be ok real soon. But until things get better I'm still here." Nani got up and headed to the hatch in the middle of the room.

"Goodnight." She said as she descended.

In the closet Stitch slowly lay down on his side and closed his eyes. He listened to the rains rhythmic patter on the roof and let himself drift off to sleep, letting Nani's words circulate in his head. An untouched bowl of raviolis sat alone outside of the closet, now as cold as the evening air.

The funeral was the next day and was held on the Kokoua Town beach. A large wreath made of carnations with Lilo's portrait in the middle sat by a platform and was surrounded by even more flowers. In front of the platform sat an empty cherry wood coffin with some of Lilo's belongings inside. On a large wooden floor sat rows and rows of chairs for the guests, more than six hundred since Nani estimated that all of Stitch's cousins would be coming.

Everyone started to arrive after noon, and as Nani guessed most of Stitch's cousins came, as well as Ms. Hasagawa, Mr. Jameson and his son Keoni, Moses Lilo's hula instructor, Myrtle and her friends and lots of others who knew and loved her. As the guests came they were greeted by Stitch and Pleakley then sat their consolation gifts on a table, if they brought one.

Nani was still at home preparing herself in front of a large full length mirror. She stared at her reflection and took a few deep breaths, trying to come to grips with the reality of the situation. Finally after she felt she had stalled long enough she took one last look at herself and wiped a stray tear from her eye. She took another deep breath and left the house for the beach. The service was about to begin.

Later on after the funeral was done everyone had gathered for a reception party at the 'Birds of Paradise Hotel,' courtesy of Mr. Jameson. He had given them a large dining room decorated in black and white with a buffet table and a stage for karaoke on the other end. The guests had tried to put their sorrows behind them and have fun, at least for Nani and Stitch's sake, but some people just weren't in the mood to be merry.

'_This has to be the worst day of my life. How can everyone just be having fun like this? Fools!' _He sat in the darkest corner of the room holding his head in his hands and glaring out at everyone, hating them. The culmination of all of his innermost feelings was beginning to surface, and Stitch didn't know how to handle them, except to lash out at the ones he loved. All he ever felt anymore was anger, and Stitch wanted others to feel the darkness that swelled in his heart. '_Yep, after today things will be different. The old Stitch is dead and now only the dark hateful Stitch remains. I wont allow anyone to be as close to me as I let Lilo be ever again.'_

Angel, who was on the other side of the room chatting it up with a group of other female experiments, looked in Stitch's direction for what must have been the millionth time that day, giving him a look of concern. She was genuinely worried about him and didn't like seeing her buchi-boo in so much pain.

"Angel?" Belle asked her.

"Yeah, sorry, I'm listening to you." She lied, still observing Stitch.

"Liar." She smirked, shaking her head.

"Listen," Bonnie interrupted, "You're obviously worried about him, and you're the closest one to him besides Lilo, so go talk to him. I think he would like that." The other females agreed, nodding their heads.

"You think I should?" She hesitated.

"Absolutely!"

"Go for it!"

"You can do it!" They cheered.

"OK, here I go." Reluctantly she felt herself take the first few steps and before she knew it she was standing beside Stitch's table.

"Aloha, Stitch." She called to him happily. He didn't even blink. "What ya doing?"

"The hokey pokey." He mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Aren't you lonely here all by yourself?" She asked him, ignoring his rude comment.

He didn't reply to her last question.

"Well, could I at least sit down?" She asked again.

"Sure. There's an empty seat over there." He said and pointed to a chair between Felix and Heckler at a table over by the buffet line.

"Stitch, I'm just trying to help." She walked to his side and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"Naga, you're just being annoying. Can't you take a hint? Leave me alone." He growled and he threw her arms off of him.

"Stitch, I…"

"GO…AWAY!" He yelled again and turned his back to her.

Dejectedly, she turned around and began to walk away. "I used to feel sorry for you." She began. "But now I feel sorry for you in a whole new way." She hung her head and left him.

She started to walk back towards her friends, but turned her attention towards the stage where the music had suddenly stopped. The karaoke singers were now done and left the stage so the next person could sing. A wild idea hit her and she dashed towards the stage.

Choosing a song she cued the music up and grabbed the microphone. "This is a song my best friend, Lilo taught me once. She said her mother used to sing it to her when she was sad, so Nani, Pleakley, Jumba and especially Stitch, this is for you."

Interested and curious, Stitch lifted his head out of his hands as Angel began to sing.

"_When storm clouds grow,_

_And I feel blue,_

_Your song comes drifting on the trade winds._

_Your bright smile shines,_

_Like sun on sand,_

_An island dream of you…"_

A small smile crept onto Stitch's lips. He remembered that song, and suddenly he felt a little bit better as pleasant memories from the past began to flood his brain. He remembered the first time he heard that song; it was the anniversary of Nani and Lilo's parent's death years ago.

That day Lilo had gone upstairs to take a nap, and Nani had sung the song to him when he expressed his concerns for her. In fact that was also the same day experiment 276 was activated.

"Wait a second…" Stitch suddenly realized as possibly the wildest idea he ever had entered his head.

He leapt from his chair and began a search for a certain special someone.

End of chapter


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Stitch pushed his way through the crowds in the room, checking out the groups of experiments and crawling under the legs of the humans in his mad quest. Those who noticed him wondered what had gotten into him; just a few minutes ago he was moping by himself at a table, and now he was frantically running around the room like a rabid animal. They thought he might have just snapped.

Finally he came to the conclusion that maybe the experiment that he was looking for may have left and gone to work already. Luckily Nani just happened to walk by him. Stitch decided he was going to have to tell her he was going to leave a little prematurely.

"Nani, I have to go." He quickly told her. Before she had a chance to ask where he was planning on going he was already gone. She figured he was just going to his usual spot to be alone.

"Stitch, I wish you would let people help you." Nani whispered under her breath sadly.

The doors were practically torn off of their hinges as Stitch burst through them. He took a quick glance around to get a feeling for his surroundings, then when he knew which way to go he ran at full speed. He tore down one city block after another, running until his legs burned and felt like they would fall off, until he reached his destination and walked through the doors of Kimo's Arcade.

He walked up to the brand new virtual reality skateboarding game, looking behind it and seeing his cousin hooked up to and powering the machine; experiment 276, Remmy.

"Cousin, aloha!" He called happily.

Remmy looked up and smiled when he saw Stitch standing there. He took off his helmet and the machine powered down, ending the turn of the kid currently using it.

"Hey!!" The kid whined in disappointment, but Remmy ignored him.

"I need your help, cousin. Together we may be able to save Lilo." Stitch blurted out.

Remmy just gave him a sad look and shook his head. "Cousin," He said, placing a paw on Stitch's shoulder. "Lilo's gone. Forever. Nothing we do now can ever bring her back. You really need to start being around people again more often."

Stitch gave him a weird look. "Naga! I have an idea, but in order for it to work I really need you to come with me."

"So where are we going?" Remmy asked and he unhooked the rest of the equipment off of himself.

"To the hospital. We're going to pay Jumba a little visit." Stitch answered as he grabbed Remmy by his wrist and led him out the door.

They ran down two city blocks, took a right, then a left and another right before they found themselves standing in front of the hospital.

"So what's the plan?" Remmy asked, but Stitch just grabbed him again and led him inside and past the reception desk to the elevator. Soon they found themselves inside Jumba's room looking down on their comatose genius creator.

"So what are we doing here?" Remmy tried asking again.

Stitch stared down thoughtfully at Jumba. "You're going to use your powers to get me inside of Jumba's dreams, then I'll ask him what caused the accident and if there's anything we can do to stop Lilo from dying. I have a hunch that what caused Jumba's accident was also what caused Lilo's plane to crash."

"That's not that bad of a plan." Remmy smiled.

They both watched Jumba sleep for a bit. He looked so peaceful and innocent as he lay there, it was almost hard for them to believe that he was responsible for the creation of more than six hundred formerly evil experiments, plus countless other inventions. A smile stretched across Jumba's child- like face as if he sensed their presence there.

"I wonder what he's dreaming of." Stitch wondered aloud, finally breaking the silence.

Remmy looked over at him and smiled. "Let's find out, shall we?"

This time it was Remmy's turn to grab Stitch's wrist. Stitch felt himself being lifted off of the ground and looked down at his dangling feet. As they climbed higher into the air Stitch suddenly felt funny as he watched his surrounding grow all around him. He realized they were shrinking, and understood how Alice must have felt when Lilo used to read "Through the Looking Glass" to him. As they continued to shrink, Stitch closed his eyes as Remmy flew them closer to Jumba's ear hole until they disappeared inside.

When Stitch reopened his eyes he noticed that he was alone, and surrounded by darkness. He called out Remmy's name but got no answer. He felt very cold and alone, until he saw that he was back outside his house right next to Jumba's ship.

Stitch turned on his heels and approached the ship; somehow he felt as if he were being summoned by something, or someone inside. He punched in the code on the ship's number pad and the door opened with a loud hiss. Inside was more darkness. Nervously, he took a step inside and walked a few feet, wishing that he could see.

As if it could sense his thoughts, Stitch heard a loud clank, and the room was illuminated with brilliant white light. He had to squint at first as the light blinded him, but when his eyes settled he was surprised to find himself not inside of the ship, but back in Jumba's evil genius laboratory.

Looking around he could see that the lab looked exactly the same as it did in reality- but at the same time different, almost creepy; twisted.

The colored chemicals inside the beakers and tubes gave an eerie glow and cast weird shadows on the walls. All 627 experiments' blueprints littered the walls, while other half finished experiments floated in capsules in suspended animation. Stitch observed that the room looked like it had been damaged by an explosion, and gave him the impression of standing inside a large cave instead of a laboratory; twisted metal and wires hung out from holes in the ceiling and littered the floor all around him.

Leaning against one wall was a series of capsules. Intrigued, Stitch walked over to take a look. What he found inside each one was a finished new experiment, awaiting activation. He decided to check out a few of his could-be cousins.

The first one contained an experiment that resembled Melty, only it was obviously female. She had light violet fur with a smooth pink chest and tiny dragon wings on her back. Her eyes were closed so he couldn't see what color they were, but the numbers 699 also appeared on her chest in white lettering. He thought she was very pretty.

Peeking inside another one he saw an experiment that looked like it could have been his twin brother, except this one had silver colored fur with white fur on it's underside. It's eyes were also closed and it wore the numbers 700 in bold red lettering. He would have checked out more if he weren't interrupted.

"Who disturbs evil genius Jumba in his laboratory?" The voice bellowed. Instantly, Stitch recognized the voice.

"Jumba!!" He yelled happily.

"626?" Jumba responded. "Is it you? What is bringing you to see me?"

"I need answers, Jumba. First off, what happened here?" Stitch asked, looking around.

"I…got a little carried away on my latest creation." He answered grinning sheepishly. "Was making powerful new experiment, first in new line of experiments. Turns out Jumba may have made it a little too powerful. Experiment almost destroyed lab, and Jumba. Unfortunately that's all I remember. I was knocked out and experiment escaped."

"Sounds like what could have happened back home." Stitch said thinking out loud.

"Excusing me?" Jumba asked.

Stitch looked back up at him with a serious frown. "Jumba, this… all of this, isn't real." He revealed pointing around the lab. "Five weeks ago, the night of Lilo's going away party, we found you unconscious inside your ship's lab. We called Cobra Bubbles and he investigated, said there was some kind of accident. I believe there's more to it. I smelled an experiment, one I don't know."

"Stitch, I have no idea what you are explaining.." Jumba started. He began avoiding eye contact with him.

"You're lying! I know you know more than you're telling me." Stitch warned, his voice starting to raise. Jumba just shrugged and shook his head.

"This is serious, Jumba. Tell me everything you know about this experiment." Again Jumba didn't say anything.

"Lilo's dead. Did you know that?" He continued. "Her plane was destroyed and whatever you created was responsible. You're lying in a hospital bed right now, unconscious. We needed answers, but couldn't afford to wait for you to wake up, so I came here with Remmy."

Jumba looked surprised. "You mean 276 is here too?"

As if on cue, Remmy materialized out of the floor and rose into the air.

"Whoa, who does your decorating?" He mused. "Very Feng Suay."

"Jumba, we already lost Lilo. If you don't tell me what I need to know, more lives may be lost."

Stitch informed.

Jumba looked down at his feet and sighed in defeat. "Alright." He said as he walked over to a nearby desk, opened a drawer and fished around for something. "Why is it when people come to Jumba's lab they always demand information from him, never social call."

He produced a sheet of paper and walked back over to them, handing Stitch the paper.

"This is new experiment, 'Adam.'" He began explaining. Jumba's goal in designing experiment was to create new line of experiments using Earth-type animal subjects and alien DNA."

As Jumba spoke, Stitch scanned all of the information on the paper, taking everything in.

"In addition to giving experiment ability to make judgments based on right and wrong and decision making, 'Adam' was also given awesome physical strengths and phenomenal powers of the mind. In combat he was made to withstand most enemy weapons and choose from over 1,000 different ways to take down enemy soldiers." Jumba paused for a moment, enjoying the disbelieving looks on Stitch and Remmy's faces before continuing.

"As time went on, and Adam continued his training, his powers and strength only increased. At first Jumba had no problems keeping experiment under control. Adam gets out of line, Jumba temporarily reprograms brain waves until he resets himself, until one day Adam goes berserk. Adam's brain refuses signals Jumba is sending to him and he uses powers to almost destroy lab. Jumba gets hit by debris and is knocked out while Adam escapes. If what you say is true and you found my body five weeks ago, and Adam's powers increase daily, then is no telling how strong he is now. Could even be equal to, or stronger than 626 himself."

By now, Stitch was beside himself with shock. "But what will make it stop, Jumba? What is it looking for?"

Jumba shrugged. "Adam was created to fight, and loves a challenge. My hunch is, he is looking for opponent with strength and abilities equal to or ever surpassing his own… or, he could be searching, trying to find current strongest activated experiment he was designed to be superior to."

"You mean, 627?" Stitch asked raising an eyebrow.

"Experiment 627 is currently inactive, 626." Jumba said gravely. "Who I mean is you."

Stitch gulped, his heart dropping to his feet.

"You must go back to reality, 626, and use Jumba's time surfing board to travel back to day Adam first escaped. I fear that if you were to confront him now you wouldn't stand a chance. Board is still in back of closet, the last place Jumba left it. Hurry! Am wishing you good luck."

Stitch mind began to race. "Will Lilo be ok?" He asked finally.

"I do not know." Jumba said frowning. He turned his back to them and began to walk away to another room, but stopped in his tracks.

"One more thing, 626. Time travel is like double edged sword; Lilo may be alive and Adam weaker in the past, but you can't indefinitely change history. Some things are just meant to happen." He said before disappearing completely.

Stitch stared at the ground pondering the conversation he had just had with Jumba. Ahead of him lay a difficult and possibly life threatening mission. Remmy broke his thoughts when he grabbed Stitch's wrist.

"Come on, Stitch. We need to go." He said. Stitch nodded and felt himself being lifted off of the ground once again. In an instant both experiments vanished from sight, back to the waking world.

End of chapter.

A/N: Have to say I'm really proud of this chapter. I felt inspired and knocked this chapter out in a day. I guess its just my way of making up for not updating my story in such a long time. I should point out that when Jumba is talking to Stitch and Remmy explaining Adam's origins and powers he's referring to himself in reality when Adam escapes, not the dream world Jumba and Adam.

Also yes, if you guessed the two experiments that Stitch saw before meeting Jumba in his lab were Slyther and Drea, from MisGelRcy's fic "His Conundrum," you're right. She gave me permission to use her characters beforehand, so once again a big thank you goes out to her.

Now the force behind Jumba's accident has been revealed, and experiment Adam unleashed. Does Stitch have what it takes to stop him? Chapter 6 coming.


End file.
